A RUSH of blood to the head, and grazier Jim Sawyer had landed himself a stunning Victorian mansion.
Jim, of Barnawartha, had never stepped foot inside the homestead, Mt Prior, until he bought it in 1988.
- MT PRIOR
- GOORAMADDA
- Property: lifestyle, bed and breakfast, restaurant
- Size: 44ha
- Sale: private
- Price: $1.85 million
- Agent: Elders, Albury
- Contact: 0409 447 911
Mr Sawyer had been attending a meeting in Melbourne and went to the auction of Mt Prior out of curiosity.
When the expected bidders failed to materialise, he found himself the new owner of one of Rutherglen's landmark buildings.
The ornate, 48-square Victorian home, featuring a double-storey tower, sits on a hill overlooking the Mt Prior vineyard between Howlong and Rutherglen.
Although used in recent years as a B&B and restaurant, Mt Prior has an interesting history.
It was built as a grand home for wine merchant Alexander Caughey in the late 1880s.
An avenue of olive trees, which still exists, was planted as the driveway and the house was encircled by a walnut-tree plantation.
By the 1890s, the Mt Prior vineyard under Caughey was second only in size to All Saints at Wahgunyah.
The grand days of Mt Prior had almost faded into history by 1974, when the property was rediscovered by Melbourne radiologist Dr Hugh Catchlove.
He restored the house, rebuilt the old winery and replanted vineyards.
When the property was put up for auction in December, 1988, Jim was more interested in the irrigation infrastructure.
"I believed it was value for money, as it is now," he said.
Jim produced durif, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay, shiraz and merlot wines under the Mt Prior label. With the vineyards now separated from the homestead block, he will now concentrate on the Mt Prior wine business.
The five-bedroom homestead has operated as a luxury bed and breakfast, and restaurant under a series of operators over the years.
Internally, the rooms remain largely original, boasting different marble fireplaces in each one, soaring 4.8-metre-high ceilings and antique chandeliers.
Huge ornate mirrors feature in the main house, while floor-to-ceiling windows give access to the veranda.
The master bedroom has its own dressing room and ensuite.
There is a commercial kitchen, pantry, coolroom storage, a function area with seating for 60 people and ducted gas heating.
The servants' wing has been converted to guest bedrooms and has a covered courtyard.
An underground brick cellar is ideal for storing those special bottles of wine.
The double-storey tower, restored by Dr Catchlove, has views across the vineyard to the Murray River.
A garden landscaped with mature trees, shrubs and annuals, includes a lawn tennis court.
Mt Prior sits on 44ha of well-drained, red-clay and loam grazing and cropping land.
"We have grown triticale crops for the last three years and it is now back into pasture," Jim said.
Subdivided into four paddocks, the property is watered by a five-megalitre water right from the Murray River and four surface dams.
Available separately, an adjoining 25ha block has sprinkler irrigation and has been recently sown to lucerne.
Jim said the extra irrigation block sown to lucerne would provide supplementary income.
Jim, 78, has decided to sell the Mt Prior homestead and concentrate on the vineyard and his grazing enterprise.
